Halloween has already come and gone, but a new app is giving users a scare by showing what they would look like as a crystal meth addict.
The app, called Ice Effex, was launched in September and created by Australians Hadyn Cooke and Trinity Lonel. The couple used their $40,000 life savings to create the app, which digitally alters a photograph to show the effects that meth would have on their face after three, six, and 12 months of use. It’s even become a family affair as they’ve taken input on the design from their two teenage children in order to reach the greatest number of youth possible.
Cooke and Lonel said they were inspired to create the app after witnessing its damaging effects first hand while working at a rehab clinic.
“To sit with my son and say ‘eat your veggies, it’s good for your insides,’ they don’t give a stuff about that. They care about what they look like,” said Cooke to 7 News Australia. “It’s a really big deal to them at that age.”
The photo alterations on the app highlight the common facial scarring and alterations that can come from meth use, including deep lines in the skin and blisters on the cheek, nose, lips, and forehead. Open wounds and pockmarks on the face are also prominent in many of the photos.
A section of the app also provides medical information about what is happening to the body below the skin line during meth use. Cooke and Lonel hope the app can be used in schools to educate kids on the dangers of meth use.
“The devastation and cost that one user can have on a family and community is huge,” said Cooke. “Even if [the app] saves one kids or a couple of kids, it will have been worth it.”
Ice Effex is currently available to download on the iPhone.
